Most political pundits viewed the Senator’s trip and the comments that followed as an indication that Paul was already positioning himself for a 2016 presidential run. He followed his hawkish remarks regarding Israel with strong opposition to President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, former U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel.

Republicans made a number of arguments against Hagel’s nomination. Some were based on his temperament and others were based on his business and paid speeches, but the main argument against Hagel was that he was too sympathetic to some of America’s biggest adversaries.

Sen. Paul’s vote for Hagel will likely haunt him should he run for president in the future. Foreign policy issues always find their way into a presidential election in one way or another, even during times of peace. American voters want to know that there is a steady hand at the wheel when it comes to the country’s dealings with the rest of the world. In a Republican primary, a candidate’s support of Israel is incredibly important, especially in conservative states like Iowa.

Like it was with his father’s campaigns, foreign policy is the major inhibitor of Sen. Paul becoming a legitimate candidate for the presidency. That’s why his Israeli trip and subsequent comments about Israel were so widely discussed in political circles. His vote for Hagel’s confirmation only gives his future opponents ammunition.

As Sen. Paul was explaining to the media that he supported Hagel because the President gets to choose his appointees, one of his likely 2016 opponents, Rick Santorum blasted the vote to confirm Hagel.

“I’m disappointed Senators would vote to support Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary because it sends the wrong message to our allies and enemies in the Middle East. Hagel has made a career of being outside the mainstream on foreign policy issues. He’s been too lenient on Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, he’s alienated our closest ally in the Middle East, Israel, and second guessed the troop surge in Iraq. In addition, during confirmation hearings, he failed to provide full details of profits from foreign investors and statements he made during past speaking engagements. I fear the signal that Hagel’s nomination sends to our enemies abroad.”

Sen. Paul’s vote will be easy to explain to his anti-war, libertarian-leaning supporters, but will be a hard sell with more traditional voters should he run for president in 2016.

About the Author

Craig Robinson

Craig Robinson serves as the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheIowaRepublican.com. Prior to founding Iowa's largest conservative news site, Robinson served as the Political Director of the Republican Party of Iowa during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. In that capacity, Robinson planned and organized the largest political event in 2007, the Iowa Straw Poll, in Ames, Iowa. Robinson also organized the 2008 Republican caucuses in Iowa, and was later dispatched to Nevada to help with the caucuses there.
Robinson cut his teeth in Iowa politics during the 2000 caucus campaign of businessman Steve Forbes and has been involved with most major campaigns in the state since then. His extensive political background and rolodex give him a unique perspective from which to monitor the political pulse of Iowa.